Influence of the Septuagint on the Typological Interpretation of Joshua and His Deeds in Justin Martyr's “Dialogue with Trypho, the Jew”

Abstract

The aim of the article is to argue that the typological interpretation of Joshua and his actions in the Dialogue with Trypho, the Jew by Justin the Martyr, was only possible thanks to the Hellenized version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint. In the Introduction, it was synthetically recalled that Justin in Dialogue argues with Marcionism and Judaism, and in Part 1 the status of the Septuagint was recalled in Judaism and ancient Christianity, as well as his methods of interpreting the Old Testament. In Part 2, the author concentrates on the analysis of the relevant fragments of the Dialogue in which there is a typological interpretation of Joshua and his actions. The influence of the Septuagint on Justin’s interpretation is manifested in several aspects: the name Joshua, in Hebrew יתושע, according to the Septuagint, sounds exactly the same as the name of Jesus Christ ̓Ιησοῦς and is the basis for the presentation of Joshua as a type of Christ; the second circumcision of the Israelites by Joshua, with stone knives, after entering the Promised Land was a type and foreshadowing of the spiritual circumcision of the Gentile heart by Jesus Christ from stones, that is pagan deities and the error of the world; the blood of circumcision at Gilgal was a type of the blood of Christs; stone knives (μαχαίρας πετρίνας) were a type of the teaching and words of Christ with which he circumcises the hearts of the pagans; the heap of twelve stones was a type of many heathens circumcised from the false polytheism. And the mention of this second circumcision, which Justin interprets as a type of real spiritual circumcision made by Christ, shows us the Dialogue as the oldest testimony of the Septuagint version confirmed by the Code of Alexandria (εκ δευτέρου in Rhalfs’ apparatus).